Reid aide assails GOP on 'injustice'

A spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) slammed Republicans for blocking legal settlements for black farmers and Native American trust holders, saying they should "have the courage to say" whether they are "fundamentally opposed to delivering justice" to minority Americans.

"If Republicans are fundamentally opposed to ending this injustice for black farmers and Native American trust account-holders, they should at least have the courage to say so and stop playing games with this critical issue,” said Reid spokesman Jim Manley in a statement.

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The Senate had been working on an agreement to pass the Pigford and Cobell settlements by unanimous consent Wednesday before adjourning for elections, but Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) told Reid he would object to the measure. The Democrats have not offered the consent request as of Wednesday evening and another representative for Reid said it was unclear whether they would.

Coburn also objected to the bill – which approves money for settlements of massive litigation brought by Native American trust holders against the Interior Department and black farmers against the Agriculture Department – when Reid offered it by consent in May. Reid could have filed cloture on this at any time after Coburn's first objection to attempt to force a vote, but did not do so.

“Senator Coburn is the just the latest face of what appears to be an intentional effort by Republicans to deny justice to black farmers and Native American trust account-holders. Their opposition is a transparent sham," Manley said. "Every time we are close to a bipartisan agreement that would disburse court-approved settlements to these Americans who were denied earnings they deserve due to discrimination and mismanagement, Republicans yank the rug from under them by conjuring up a new reason to object."

The statement painted the GOP with a broad brush though the source of the day's angst was Coburn's move. Democratic aides said that both parties were extremely close to an agreement and believed as recently as Wednesday morning that the Senate would pass the measure later in the evening.

An aide added that Coburn pulled his support at the "11th hour," implying that other Republicans had been on board before the Oklahoma senator had announced his intent to object to Reid.

Coburn said he has talked to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about the Pigford settlement also that there are "several senators" standing in the way.

"My concern is that we ought to make sure we pay people who were discriminated against but we shouldn't be paying people who weren't," he said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to a single Pigford-Cobell settlement; they are in fact two separate cases and settlements being considered as part of a combined bill.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: David Cohen @ 09/29/2010 11:40 PM
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to a single Pigford-Cobell settlement; they are in fact two separate cases and settlements being considered as part of a combined bill.